The weekend preview: 4-5 June

Tennis: French Open final: Novak Djokovic v Andy Murray

Sunday, 1.30pm, ITV 1

Will Murray be lifting one of these on Sunday? Image: Wikipedia/Christopher Johnson

We’ve reached the final of a Grand Slam and once again the last men standing are Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Fans of the British player could be forgiven for tuning in with a degree of pessimism, such is Murray’s record in big matches against the world number one – in their seven meetings at the semi-final stage or later, Djokovic has won five. But this is a different Andy Murray (or so we’re told). Playing the best clay-court tennis of his career, Murray has already beaten Djokovic on the surface this year as he triumphed in Rome to lift his first Italian Open title. He has also recovered impressively from a shaky start to the tournament, taking five sets to dispatch his first two opponents. A convincing four-set victory over defending champion Stan Wawrinka in Friday’s semi-final was a pleasant surprise to even Murray’s most optimistic advocates, and he goes into Sunday’s match with nothing to lose.

But then there’s the small matter of the man on the other side of the net. Aside from Djokovic’s incredible talent, pundits are starting to wonder whether he has a psychological hold over Murray when it comes to Grand Slam finals. When they played each other in the Australian Open final in January, the Serb made the British player look very average indeed, with Murray nowhere near his best. That scenario could easily happen again, yet allow me to channel the England football fan in me and ponder that maybe, just maybe, this time will be different. Whatever happens, it’ll be a scintillating watch.

Athletics: Birmingham Diamond League meeting

Sunday, 1.30pm, BBC 1

If Tennis isn’t your thing then Sunday also offers the opportunity to watch an afternoon of live athletics. Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford are among the star names as 21 world champions head to Birmingham, with the sport’s bosses praying that the stars put on a show. Though doping scandals in athletics are sadly no longer a surprise, this week has been particularly eventful: in addition to talk of Russia being reinstated into international competition ahead of the Olympics, reports emerged today that Nesta Carter – member of the same gold-medal winning Jamaica relay team as Usain Bolt in 2008 – had submitted a test containing a banned drug. If the sport world ever needed a saviour to steal the headlines for the right reasons, it is now.

The Mo-bot: it never gets old. Image: Wikipedia/Abzdore

Lining up alongside two of Team GB’s Super Saturday trio is 800m world record holder and Olympic champion David Rudisha, who is running in the 600m event. Elsewhere, Kirani James, another gold-medal winner in London, will be tough competition for Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith in a mouth-watering 400m. A similar match-up is in store in the women’s 100m, as British record-holder Dina Asher-Smith tests herself against world 200m champion Dafne Schippers. These events will be intensified by the proximity of the meeting to Rio 2016, which is now just two months away. Think of Sunday as a starter before this summer’s main course.